Skip to content

Constitution of the International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property

(as last amended in Nashville, August 2019)

Article 1: Name

Article 2: Definitions

Article 3: General Objective

Article 4: Specific Objectives and Means of Action in Respect of Teaching

Article 5: Specific Objectives and Means of Action in Respect of Research

Article 6: Membership

Article 6a: Annual Congresses

Article 7: Membership Dues

Article 8: Termination of Membership

Article 9: Cooperating Institutions

Article 10: Assembly

Article 11: Executive Committee

Article 12: Officers

Article 13: Resources

Article 14: Seat of the Association

Article 15: Languages

Article 16: Dissolution

Article 1: Name

  1. The name of the Association shall be:
    in English: International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property,
    in French: Association internationale pour la promotion de l’enseignement et de la recherche en propriété intellectuelle,
    in German: Internationale Vereinigung für die Förderung von Lehre und Forschung auf dem Gebiet des geistigen Eigentums,
    in Spanish: Asociación Internacional para el Progreso de la Enseñanza y de la Investigación de la Propiedad Intelectual.
  2. In the present Constitution, the said Association is referred to as “the Association”.
  3. The acronym of the Association, in all languages, shall be “ATRIP”.

Article 2: Definitions

For the purposes of this Constitution:

  1. “the law of intellectual property” means the law, whether at the national, regional or international level, that deals with literary, artistic and scientific works, performances of performing artists, phonograms and broadcasts, inventions in all fields of human endeavour, scientific discoveries, industrial designs, trademarks, service marks, and commercial names and designations, protection against unfair competition, and other intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary or artistic fields, as well as with other recognized subjects of intellectual property and related subjects.
  2. “professor” means a person teaching or having taught in the field of the law of intellectual property at a university of similar institution.
  3. “researcher” means a person professionally engaged in research in the field of the law of intellectual property, such as a postdoctoral researcher, at a university or similar institution or at a research institution.
  4. “PhD candidate” means a person enrolled to complete a PhD or equivalent degree in the field of the law of intellectual property at a university or similar institution.

Article 3: General Objective

  1. The general objective of the Association shall be to contribute to the advancement of teaching and research in the field of the law of intellectual property.
  2. The Association shall pursue only educational and scientific objectives. It shall pursue no lucrative aims.

Article 4: Specific Objectives and Means of Action in Respect of Teaching

  1. In respect of teaching, the Association shall, in particular, pursue the following objectives:
    1. that more time and attention be devoted by universities and similar institutions to the teaching of the law of intellectual property;
    2. that improved teaching materials and methods be used in the field of the law of intellectual property;
    3. that special attention and resources be devoted by professors, universities and similar institutions to the teaching of the comparative and international, as well as the social and economic, aspects of the law of intellectual property;
    4. that teachers and candidates aspiring to teaching positions be encouraged and assisted to attain the knowledge needed to teach in the field of the law of intellectual property;
    5. that professors be assisted in their efforts to realize the objectives mentioned in (i) to (iv) above.
  2. In respect of teaching, the Association shall, among other means of action, encourage and/or organize:
    1. contacts among professors by correspondence, visits, seminars, symposia and other meetings,
    2. the compilation, dissemination or exchange of teaching materials, bibliographies and other teaching aids,
    3. the publication of specialized works.

Article 5: Specific Objectives and Means of Action in Respect of Research

  1. In respect of research, the Association shall, in particular, devote its attention to:
    1. the social and economic facts, interests and needs of the present and the future which are relevant to the development of the law of intellectual property,
    2. the comparative and international aspects of the law of intellectual property,
    3. the history of the law of intellectual property.
  2. In respect of research, the Association shall, among other means of action, encourage and/or organize:
    1. contacts among researchers by correspondence, visits, seminars, symposia and other meetings;
    2. the exchange of information about the initiation of research projects, their progress and results;
    3. specialized studies and their publication.

Article 6: Membership

  1. Professors, researchers and PhD candidates are invited to sign and thereupon signing this Constitution shall be members of the Association.
  2. Subject to paragraph (1) each candidate shall submit her/his application to  the President, enclosing her/his CV and list of publications and for PhD candidates a letter from the university or similar institution at which they are enrolled confirming their status and that their research topic is in the field of the law of intellectual property. The President will ask the  members of Executive Committee to  express  their advice on the candidacy. The candidate shall become a member upon receipt of the acceptance of her/his application by the President or a Delegate thereof and payment of membership dues.
  3. PhD candidates will cease to be members if either (a) the PhD candidacy ceases or (b) upon completion of their degree they do not qualify as a member as a professor or researcher. However, those who have completed their PhD and are actively seeking a position as researcher or professor may remain members upon providing in a timely manner evidence of relevant activities as the President may request from time to time.

Article 6a: Annual Congresses

  1. Annual Congresses are arranged by the President of the Association or the person appointed by him/her. Invitations to the annual congresses are extended to all members of the association. In addition, the President may decide to open the congress to non-members, including scholars and experts from the IP community of the host country.
  2. Members who are not able to attend the annual congress themselves are entitled to send a member of their research staff to replace them. Such persons sent to replace the member are not allowed to vote at the Assembly.

Article 7: Membership Dues

  1. Each member shall pay annual membership dues the amount of which shall be determined by the Assembly.
  2. Annual dues shall be paid by the last day of the calendar year for which they are payable.
  3. Annual dues shall be expressed in Swiss currency and shall be payable in that currency or in a similar amount expressed in other currencies as the Executive Committee may designate.
  4. Members who have retired from their posts as active professors or researchers in intellectual property are not required to pay annual dues, although they may continue to pay on a voluntary basis.

Article 8: Termination of Membership

  1. Any member may terminate his/her membership by giving notice in writing to the President of the Association. Such resignation shall take effect upon receipt of the notice.
  2. Any member who has not paid his/her annual dues for more than four consecutive calendar years and, after having been given notice in writing to pay the said arrears, does not then do so shall lose his/her membership on the first day of the calendar year following the said four years. The Executive Committee may grant a partial or complete exemption, in particular cases, from the requirement of payment of the membership dues.
  3. The Executive Committee may, after having afforded a member the opportunity to be heard, withdraw his membership because of conduct unbecoming of a member. He/she may appeal to the Assembly against the said decision.

Article 9: Cooperating Institutions

  1. Institutions specialized in teaching or research in the field of law of intellectual property and having declared their willingness to assist the Association in carrying out specific items of the program of the Association may be invited by the Assembly to become “Cooperating Institutions”.
  2. Cooperating Institutions shall be invited to be represented in the Assembly and any other meeting organized by the Association which the President designates as being open to Cooperating Institutions.

Article 10: Assembly

  1. The Assembly shall consist of the members of the Association.
  2. The Assembly shall be in charge of all the affairs of the Association except those specifically entrusted to the Executive Committee, the President or the Treasurer. The Assembly shall, in particular:
    1. adopt the program and yearly budget and fix the amount of the annual membership dues,
    2. elect, from among the members, a President, a President-Elect, nine Executive Committee Members, and a Treasurer.
  3. Furthermore, the Assembly may:
    1. conclude agreement of cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), regional or other intergovernmental organizations, associations of members of the legal profession, universities or similar institutions, research institutions and other public or private establishments dealing with matters in the field of the law of intellectual property,
    2. adopt amendments to the Constitution of the Association,
    3. decide to dissolve the Association.
    1. The Assembly shall meet in ordinary session once in each calendar year, at the date and place decided by the Executive Committee, unless the Executive Committee decides that, because of special circumstances, the said session shall not be convened. If an ordinary session of the Assembly is not held, the Executive Committee shall carry out the tasks mentioned in paragraph (2)(i).
    2. At each ordinary session, at least one matter of general interest to teaching or research in the field of the law of intellectual property shall be discussed.
    3. The President shall convene the Assembly in extraordinary session at the request of the Executive Committee or of at least one-half of the members of the Association.
  1. Each member shall have one vote in the Assembly.
  2. Subject to the provisions of paragraph (7), the Assembly shall make its decisions by a single majority of the members present and voting. Abstentions shall not be considered as votes.
    1. The adoption of amendments to this Constitution (see paragraph (3)(ii)) and the dissolution of the Association (see paragraph (3)(iii) shall require a majority of two-thirds of the votes cast.
    2. Proposals for the amendment of this Constitution or the dissolution of the Association shall be communicated by the President to the members of the Association at least two months in advance of their consideration by the Assembly.
  3. Subject to the above, the Assembly shall adopt its own rules of procedure and may amend them.

Article 11: Executive Committee

  1. The Executive Committee shall consist of the Officers of the Association, that is:
    1. the President,
    2. the President-Elect,
    3. the Past President,
    4. the nine Executive Committee Members,
    5. the Treasurer.
  2. The Executive Committee shall:
    1. arrange for meetings of the Assembly and draw up the draft agenda of each session of the Assembly,
    2. decide on the admission of members (see Article 6(2)) and the withdrawal of membership (see Article 8(3)),
    3. examine, and make such recommendations as it deems desirable on, the draft program and draft budget prepared by the President.
    1. The Executive Committee shall meet once a year in ordinary session upon convocation by the President.
    2. The Executive Committee shall meet in extraordinary session, upon convocation by the President, either on his/her own initiative or at the request of two of its members.
    3. The Executive Committee may, on the initiative of the President, reach decisions by correspondence.
    4. The Executive Committee shall make its decisions by a simple majority of the votes cast. Proxy voting shall not be allowed.

Article 12: Officers

  1. The Officers of the Association elected at the first session of the Assembly (which shall be regarded as an ordinary session of the Assembly) shall remain in office until the end of the second subsequent ordinary session of the Assembly. Thereafter, the mandate of each Officer shall last from the end of the session in which he/she was elected to the end of the second subsequent ordinary session of the Assembly.
  2. The President shall be the Chairman of the Assembly and of the Executive Committee.
  3. The President shall expedite all the current affairs of the Association. He/she shall report on the activities of the Association in each ordinary session of the Assembly, and he/she shall present, in each such session, together with the recommendations of the Executive Committee (see Article 11(2)(iii)), the draft program and budget.
  4. The President may, within the budgetary limits, employ persons to assist him/her and the Treasurer in the performance of the administrative functions necessary for the carrying out of the administrative tasks and program of the Association.
  5. Whenever the President is unable to act, he/she shall be replaced by the President-Elect.
  6. The Treasurer shall be responsible for collecting the membership dues and administering the finances of the Association. He/she shall report on the accounts and the financial status of the Association to the Assembly.

Article 13: Resources

  1. The resources of the Association shall comprise membership dues and such subsidies and gifts in cash, equipment or services as the Executive Committee may accept.
  2. All expenses shall require the order of the Treasurer.

Article 14: Seat of the Association

The seat of the Association shall be at Zurich, Switzerland.

Article 15: Languages

  1. Documents presented for the consideration of the Assembly and other official communications of the Association shall be at least in English and, whenever possible, in other languages.
  2. Oral interventions in the Assembly and other meetings shall be made, and interpretations of such interventions shall be provided, in the languages for which, within the budgetary limits, interpretation can be secured. Any meeting may decide that interventions may be made in languages other than those for which interpretation is secured.

Article 16: Dissolution

Upon dissolution of the Association, the resources of the Association shall be transferred to an institution or institutions devoted to objectives similar to those of the Association.